Yury Gogotsi is a Distinguished University Professor and Charles T. and Ruth M. Bach Endowed Chair in Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University, where he directs the A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute. A leading figure in nanomaterials, he pioneered MXenes—a family of 2D carbides and nitrides—and shaped the fields of electrochemical capacitors and nanostructured carbons. He has authored over 1,000 publications with more than 330,000 citations, holds an h‑index of over 250, and is an inventor on 100+ patents. He earned his MS (1984) and PhD (1986) from Kyiv Polytechnic and a DSc (1995) from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. He was elected a Fellow of 9 academies and professional societies, and received major awards from ACS, MRS, IUMRS, EurASc, and the World Academy of Ceramics.

2026 CME NASA Symposium in Chicago Abstract

What MXenes Can Do for Space Exploration

Benjamin Chacon and Yury Gogotsi. A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

MXenes, a diverse family of 2D carbides and nitrides, offer unique combinations of tunable properties, such as low IR emissivity and low thermal conductivity in Ti3C2Tx. This enables manufacturing ultrathin thermal insulation that remains stable at elevated temperatures and provides a temperature drop of about 100 K per micrometer. They can be assembled from solution at room temperature into shape-morphing structures with the strength and EMI shielding effectiveness of metal. Due to their nanometer-thin 2D flakes and strong adhesion via polar surface terminations (Tx), MXenes can conformally coat surfaces, for example, for shielding against hard radiation with Ta4C3Tx. Other potential applications include printable, flexible, and stretchable antennas, lightweight waveguides, as well as epidermal electrodes with excellent adhesion to skin and a lower contact impedance than gold for health monitoring of astronauts.